The purpose of this blog is for me to share my experiences as an artist with all who are interested. I will be posting paintings and drawings and information about the inspiration and creation of them. I hope you enjoy your readings.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Meet the Artists at Artistic Creations Art Gallery was a great event. It was pouring rain and we didn't expect such a great turn out. We had great food from Jane Fuqua and Rae Gordner, wonderful harp music by Julie Nelson, demos in oil painting by Terry Brunner and clay sculpture by Nancy Lucks. And to top it off we had many many friends!

This is a picture of me and my sister in law Eileen. She was here visiting from New York and stopped by with my father in law. It was a pleasure to share another art filled evening with them.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

On Friday evening we're having "Meet the Artists" at Artistic Creations Art Gallery and Classroom in Pembroke Mall. We will have live demos, flute music, refreshments, 10% off all purchases and most of the forty plus local artists. It should be alot of fun. If your in the area then stop by and "Meet the Artists"!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

I painted these two trees a couple years ago on gessoed paper. I recently taught a class on the use of gessoed paper and gesso mixed with watercolor. The scarf in the recent portrait of mine was done with the use of gesso and watercolor.

When painting on gessoed paper you can put down very dark colors and then lift the paint to get your shapes and values. This is how I did the two trees. It is alot of fun to do and I get a little more abstract look than I usually do. This I like. I don't know why but I am drawn to realism. When I am painting I am compelled to get things looking the way that they do. But I love when I'm able to do a background or a pattern that is a little more abstract. Or a little more loose in style.

When painting with gesso and watercolor I put the gesso down first then let it dry. It can be very textured or flat. It can be put down with a brush, a painting knife or any type of instrument you choose to use. Then I let it totally dry and when I apply my wtercolors over it they are almost repelled by the gesso and move into shapes around it.

As I'm moving back into teaching mode I have been thinking alot about planning my classes for this year. Teaching and painting can be very different. For me when I'm planning on painting a subject I look at it and then decide which techniques to use. When I'm teaching I often choose to teach a specific technique and then need to find something that would demonstrate the use of the technique. It's almost the opposite way of starting a project. I'm thinking of having my Ongoing Watercolor class approach subjects in this manner. They have done so many techniques that it should be very interesting!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

I should name this woman Irene because I started painting her last Saturday during the hurricane. But she does not look like an Irene. So if you have any names for her just let me know as she cannot remain nameless for too long! Robyn had been painting her and she so kindly gave me a picture that I could paint her too. Thanks Robyn!

Painting the scarf was so much fun. I used gesso under the paint to get some of the texture. I really enjoyed all the colors, folds, directions, values, intensities and movement of it.

I'm getting ready for two important things right now. Work wise it's September and I need to plan new classes and get back into teaching mode. I'm going to be teaching six to seven classes a week. Then fun wise my daughter Kim from California is coming for a two week visit to the East Coast. It will be so nice to get to spend time with her and her beau Bryant. I can hardly wait.

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About Me

I am an artist and I work out of my studio in Virginia Beach. I have worked in many different media including: oil, acrylic, watercolor, graphite, charcoal and colored pencils. My favorite medium is watercolor. I love the way it flows. The colors are magnificent and the textures are exciting. Come and share my paintings and my drawings on my blog. I hope that you enjoy them half as much as I have enjoyed creating them.